Bryce Harper is 3-for-27 in seven games with the Scottsdale Scorpions.

As the postseason reaches its final leg — the 107th World Series begins Wednesday in St. Louis with an unlikely Rangers-Cardinals matchup — baseball's various offseason leagues are just starting to heat up.

In Arizona and across the Caribbean, more than a dozen members of the Nationals organization are getting in some extra work. Some of them are downright dominating the competition (hello, Jesus Flores!) and some of them are … well, they're still trying to rediscover their swing (coughBryceHarpercough).

Several of you have been asking for some news on these guys, so here is the first of what will become regular updates on the Nats playing fall/winter ball. (Note: You can track everyone's progress on a daily basis via this site.) …

Bryce Harper remains the biggest name out there; baseball's top-rated prospect just celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday with a day off from the Arizona Fall League (which doesn't schedule games on Sundays). Harper's second foray into the AFL has gotten off to aRead more »

FWIW — Larry Bowa on MLB just basically blamed Nyger Morgan for the Brewers losing this series against the cardinals. He said that his taunting tweets against the cards and Pujols in September basically offended the baseball gods and ticked off the Cardinals big time – enough that they went the extra mile to beat them into submission. I would imagine that reading those tweets now is pretty sweet for Carpenter, Pujols ( Alberta) and the rest of those birds. Will Milwaukee end up having to rein him in? Except for the game- winning rbi against the dbacks he seemed pretty ineffective and was out of the game early last night.

gonatsgo, please find us a link to that video so we can circulate it!Nyjer's line was 5 for 28 w/ a .179 BA and a 39% K-rate/AB in the Post-season .Just loved his spaghetti arm and missing the cut-off in the 1st inning and then being pulled and sulking in the corner of the duguout.

Yes, because of Nyjer I was thrilled to see the cards win. Another note – I wasnt a big fan of seeing Fielder smile as often as he did while losing this series. Attn Lerners, If your going to spend $100+ million, go after Sabathia or CWilson instead. These signals have to raise red flags. Fielder will literally eat his contract vs play it out.

Nice to see some Nats players having fun and working hard in the offseason.gonatsgo; Larry Bowa often doesn't think before he speaks. Nyjer for all his faults didn't give up double-digit runs. If the Cardinals need to get pumped up by a goof-ball center-fielder to be motivated, they need to re-prioritize. With the energy the Brewers and the Rangers play with it would have been a more compelling match-up in the World Series, but the Cardinals pulled it off. Congrats to them.After watching these two series it reminds me no matter how many big bats you have pitching rules the roost.

Nyjer Morgan/T. Plush: Hope you enjoyed your day in the sun. Take to heart what a Marine told me the first time I ran the Marine Corps Marathon: "If you want to run with the big dogs, you have to learn to p*ss in the tall grass."

Thanks for the updates on the winter leagues, Mark.Post-season razz-matazz is OK. But the Nats aren't in it, so I prefer seeing how our guys are doing in equatorville.Even though VWL isn't the Bigs (more likely somewhere between high A and AA, it's great seeing Flo doing well. Let's not forget that when Davey scouted Flores a few years ago, he hit 21 HRs in a short-season A where the air is so moist, a ball needs wings to get off a batter's stick and fly over the wall!

Dawn, I'm with you. I enjoyed Nyjer's demise in this series as much as anyone, but to blame the Brewers loss on him is absurd. The Cards pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history to get where they are. They didn't need that pipsqueak to motivate them. And as ineffective as Nyjer was in the field and at the plate, he didn't give up any of those home runs last night. Nor was he the only Brewer hitter to be mowed down by the amazing Cardinal relief corps.

Section 222 & DawnI dont think anyone can seriously blame this solely on Nyjer. The point we're all trying to make is that it wasn't smart for Nyjer to give a team like the cards any more motivation. Stirring up trouble with a future HOF'er (Pujols) , an All Star SP (Carpenter) and calling out great fans in St Louis while standing in the dugout was quite typical of him. Nyjer stinks

I have to say I enjoyed the banter of Nyjer's off-season nickname of Toilet Flush. So fitting for a guy who bragged since the Brewers started their run. He took a lot of the limelight for wins and don't get me wrong, he contributed at times but in the end, Nats fans saw the real Nyjer getting exposed.As soon as Braun and Fielder went into a funk, the whole team seemed to go with them.If Prince Fielder leaves, that team is going to be hurting. Their pitchers have looked much better due to the team scoring runs and Braun/Fielder were a dynamic pair.Even though they lost yesterday, their offense tried to come back and scored 6 runs. Problem was the Milwaukee pitching the entire post-season just looked awful except for some moments from Gallardo and a few nice K's from Greinke.I told people that if the Nats were fortunate enough to have been the Wild Card, I think they could have beaten the Phillies and Brewers also. The Cardinals Xfactor did show up in David Freese. I guess we will see who steps up in the WS.

Thanks for the updates, Mark. Does anyone know if anything can be drawn from Venezuala League performance? How legitimate is the competition? Or is this like John Wall playing rec league games in SE?A lot of Nyjenfraude out there today. My question is, what the heck happened to Hairston's glove? He was a butcher at 3B in this series, and I always thought of him as pretty solid with the leather.

NatinBeantown, I was also surprised that Hairston had a case of the yips. You have to feel for the guy. Someone said it along with Nyjer that the baseball gods or Karma can catch up with you. I give Jerry the benefit of the doubt in what he said in an exit interview about leaving the Nats as I liked him and was happy for him going to post-season.Hairston will be a Free Agent which you have to wonder where his next stop will be. Ultimately I think he will be a dynamic broadcaster as he said he hoped to do that one day. Experiences like he just had can give a perspective few have ever lived. With Jerry's self-depricating humor, he has a lot of new material to add to his archives.For anyone who missed it, Joel Hanrahan was a guest analyst on the MLB Network as he was able to talk in detail about his division rivals Cardinals and Brewers and Joel gave an insiders perspective of the teams.

To add to Jerry Hairston's post-season, he had that full out slide at home that probably won a game. He finished up at .385 BA in the post-season and still had many fine defensive plays.That hot smash between his legs wasn't even close to the same difficulty scale as Bill Buckner's and I don't think it was ultimately the Brewers un-doing although it didn't help.I think the Manager Roenicke made a crucial decision on Game 5. With the series tied 2-2, he had the option of pushing Greinke back to Game 6 at home where he was undefeated. Obviously he didn't do that and you will never know if that would have made a difference. One of the other decisions was going with Carlos Gomez instead of Nyjer Morgan for better defense and a chance to mix things up.One of LaRussa's decisions that paid off was going with the larger bullpen. The bullpen really saved them.This NLCS was probably the most "think outside the box" playoffs I have ever seen.

For the record, and after watching a reply of the entire segment, although Nyjer's tweet was featured at the start of the MLB Network segment (which was near the end of the MLB Tonight broadcast), Plesac followed up Bowa's comments by pointing out which team was talking trash in September, and both analysts cautioned against counting the other team out before they had been eliminated for the season and thus angering the baseball g*ds. If memory serves, the Brewers catcher also talked some trash near the season's end, and Greinke called out Carpenter more recently. My own takeaway from that segment was that the intent was not to discount what the Cards did, but to note that their victory was likely a bit sweeter given which team they had to go through to get there.

Also noticed that, in the postgame show last night, Pujuols confirmed that he called time out during Fielder's final at-bat in order to prolong the ovation for him from the Brewers fans. Pujols said that he had the opportunity to experience such a moment with Cards fans and that he wanted Fielder, who he felt had done so well for the Brewers, to experience the same thing. Classy thing to do, I thought. Some of the things I've read over the years about Pujols' charitable work and interactions with others have led me to have a lot of respect for him, even as I've despaired over the damage he could do vs. "my" team.

NatinBeantown said… Thanks for the updates, Mark. Does anyone know if anything can be drawn from Venezuala League performance? How legitimate is the competition? Or is this like John Wall playing rec league games in SE?No, it isn't. The basketball competition in Southeast is much, much better than Winter Ball in Venezuela!

How's about the Cardinal's GM John Mozeliak. The guy is 42 years old and made decisions like signing a washed-up Lance Berkman as their big off-season acquisition that turned into gold.Even after losing their ace Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals held together with one of the worst bullpens in the Majors so Mozeliak added bullpen depth and Rafael Furcal at the trade deadline.Freese comes back from his arm injury. Albert comes back from his arm injury and Holliday comes back from his injury. Its truly amazing how the Cardinals were built for pitching and the heart of their lineup and get great production from their bullpen and returning injured players and the revitalized Chris Carpenter.With the team's World Series money, their bank roll should be large enough to splurge on Albert Pujols so that will be interesting to watch.

The Venezuela and Dominican Winter leagues are probably between AA and AAA, with about 3 guys in the lineup that are Major League. Mexico a step below, and Puerto Rico really can't be sure – they got alot of guys last year who are wary of staying in Venezuela.

1a,, I'm an Albert fan for the same reason. He doesn't seem to have two sides to him. How cool that he made sure Prince and the fans got to share some love. And WOW will those Brewers be hurting if they don't re-sign him!SO glad for the reports about the REAL team. It's great, Mark. Who will Brian be rooting for in the World Serious?

Steve M. I think that the mismatch in the NLCS was between LaRussa and Roenicke; no contest. It might not be a contest with Ron Washington either. I Imagine the Rangers will stay away from Pujols at any cost and they do have the better lineup but it wouldn't shock me if the Cards won. And to think the Cards would have missed the playoffs if it wasn't for Fredi's collapse; it just shows you how few really good managers there are and say what you will about LaRussa but he sure can manage.

Big Cat – Good question. Tyler Moore looks to be a solid prospect. With LaRoche and the Beast looking to fill in a the top level where does Marrerro and Moore fit in. Throw in Oppo Boppo and it looks like we have a bunch of talent pushing into the MLB lineup by the end of 2012.

jd, it goes back to the head scratching quote of Riggleman's, "LaRussa is playing chess and I'm playing checkers".Roenicke didn't make many decisions that seemed to work particularly well where you could credit him for great manager's decisions. LaRussa every time seemed to be timely with pulling pitchers, pinch hitters and juggling his bullpen to the proper matchups. LaRussa even outsmarted him on the fake suicide squeeze in Game 5.I thought the Brewers were the better team on paper. The better Manager won.

Anon, I wouldn't compare Harper and Nyjer. Not even close except for the cocky part. Anything is possible with Harper's future, and if you look at the AFL competition, it is tough. Trout is in there and he isn't dominating. There are a few who are dominating at the AFL, and you also don't want to walk away with the wrong idea on kids who dominate at the AFL. Suffice it to say that a handful of AFL players generally are your future star players. Making too much of small sample sizes can give an incorrect analysis.

Been off the computer since I posted the Nyger/MLB stuff this morning. Interesting to read various takes on it. I agree that it's an exaggeration that Nyger is to blame – but it really did come back on him in an embarassing way. I would not poke at someone of Pujol's ability. Mark'd – Pujols as a Nat? Interesting…. Question about the afl — are they supposed to be showcasing their abilities or working on things. I know we have had this discussion about spring training when a pitcher doesn't look good/ has a bad era – when they are working on things, that happens. I guess I am not sure if it's a "show me what you can do" atmosphere or a learning atmosphere. If a guy is working on changing mechanics or trying out a new pitch then the results aren't worth anything.

Sorry – wasn't me that posted the nyger stuff – it was gonatsgo – I thought about it but was running late. Thanks gonatsgo for sparking the discussion. Regarding Harper and Nyger both being cocky — I think that Nyger will tweet insults — I think that Harper would say them to your face.

swami – no problem — I have been off all day, too. Nyger's performance was just not all that great. If you are going to trash talk then you have to back it up. When he is as good as Pujols then he can talk.

Those people worried or negative about Harper must have forgot that he is EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD! He has been a pro all of one year and made huge strides. He has never failed at any level and while a slow starter he will be just fine. To compare him to an idiot that throws his glove and has multiple personalities is a disservce to Harper. He was the number one pick in the draft because he does have a cockiness & strong belief in his abilities. Its going to be great watching him develop and while we won't know which anon it is, he will have to enjoy eating his words in silence. I am also going on record as saying it will not bother me to have him in the minors for most of next year but I will be surprised if he doesn't end up in Syracuse by June/July and would also not be surprised if he called up in Sept.

Did anyone else think Nyjer was a liability in CF? He only seemed get get a good jump on balls in front of him. There seemed to be a few balls hit over his head, including one where he crashed the wall and lost track of the ball. Classic Nyjer. And he still seems to think he has a good arm, not a noodle. Perhaps if he carried a hockey stick he could fire one home from CF but otherwise, he would do well to hit the cutoff man.I guess that was always my issue with Nyjer: he didn't seem to be able to grasp his own limitations. Speed in the outfield? Yes. Able to get a good jump on the ball? Not consistently. Speed on the bases? Yes. Able to figure out the pitcher's pick off move? Not so much.And as for understanding situations involving other players (eg: two outs and pitcher is batting, DON'T TRY TO STEAL), a perennially failing grade.Morgan is not a bad guy. He bring a lot of energy, and a lot of moxie. He just never knows when to bring what, or how much.

From MLBTRADERUMORS, •Zack Greinke told Heyman that he would have accepted a trade to the Rangers last winter, when the Royals were shopping him.___________________________Well that will endear himself to the Milwaukee Brewers and their fanbase. Why bring it up. You are a Brewer dude for one more year then you are a Free Agent. Go to the Rangers at that time.

When Mickey Mantle was 19, he flopped as a Yankee and they sent him back down to the minors. Mick gave up on baseball and went home to Commerce, Okla, where his dad kicked his butt and sent him back to where the Yanks had assigned him. He came back up the next year and turned into the most talented BB player I have ever seen.Judging Harper's abilities after a few games in the AFL is beyond ridiculous. The kid can play. I hope he gets good enough to be called up next year, but, if not, it's just a matter of time. Same for Rendon. Rendon might even beat Harper to the majors.The Nats are filling their minor leagues with young talent. The odds are some of them are going to be good, and a few of them could be great. Rizzo deserves most of the credit for that. He's made some dumb moves, but he's also made some very good ones. He will do something this winter. Here's hoping it's as smart as trading Langerhans for Morse, and not as dumb as offering Espy, Storen and JZim for Greinke. With Rizzo, you never know.

Greinke's idea of loyalty is to his ego. Glad he's not a Nat. To those spouting his BB/K ratio and FIP as reasoning to say he is an Ace, his 3.83 ERA during 2011 and what I saw in the playoffs with that 6.48 ERA just was not Ace.

I think the Nats WILL go after Zach Grienke. Will negotiate a trade with the Brewer and will negotiate a new contract with the pitcher. I suspect Wilson might be a smoke screen. He is a tad old for these Nats. They need a bonafide #1 guy to allow Strasburg/Zimmermann duo to slowly work their way into becoming aces. Fielder? If they are going to look at anyone it better be Pujols. He is the best in baseball and could make any team an instant playoff contender. If its possible they should go for him hook-line-and-sinker.

his 3.83 ERA during 2011 and what I saw in the playoffs with that 6.48 ERA just was not Ace.You're a fool and better at being a fan … clearly.How about these guys smarty pants?ROY OSWALT : 7.50 ERA doh #1CLIFF LEE : 7.50 ERA doh #2What else you got for us Homer?

Slower might be better in Harper's case. I can certainly see why management is not the least bit concerned. Now, in Rendon's case the level of concern might be ratcheted up a notch or two higher. He theoretically should be their #1 prospect and the closest to the majors.

Anon at 833 – totally agreed on Harper. The organization can afford to let his progress dictate the timetable. He and the team will be better off if things are done the right way. And – isn't he 19 now?

Anonymous said… his 3.83 ERA during 2011 and what I saw in the playoffs with that 6.48 ERA just was not Ace.You're a fool and better at being a fan … clearly.How about these guys smarty pants?ROY OSWALT : 7.50 ERA doh #1CLIFF LEE : 7.50 ERA doh #2What else you got for us Homer? October 17, 2011 8:28 PM ==============================Hey Anon-a-dope, the point he put on there was regular season (not Ace) and post-season (definitely not Ace).Cliff Lee was a Top 10 pitcher in the regular season. Yes, he had a poor post-season and statistically so did Verlander.Halladay and Carpenter were the only 2 that really shined.

They kept him in Fla to "work on his throwing motion" with the same coach that helped Zimm as he recovered from his abdominal issue. Not sure if we should read between the lines or take this at face value. Bottom line is he is not in the AFL. Not sure that I will panic about this but I am sure some neganon will jump all over it.

I know it's been said, but I'm very excited that we'll be getting these updates throughout the winter. Thanks so much.My next comment is on a subject I prefer to avoid — the Nationals' former center fielder just gets some people so VERY worked up around here, and I don't see the point in riling them. But a factual matter must be set straight!baseballswami said…I think that [Nyjer] will tweet insults — I think that Harper would say them to your face.Lookit, y'all can (and do … and do … and do) say all you want about the man. But he gave up 8 inches and 55 pounds to Chris Volstad, and the kid didn't hesitate for a second.Young Mr. Morgan does have some flaws. I do not believe that cowardice is one of them. (In fact, I think the opposite seems much more likely.)

Grienke is an ace, but he really does have personal issues that challenge him. He's an odd guy – probably better for him not to be in NY, Phil, La, Boston. Good for him that he has been able to use his talent and work around the rest. That's not easy when millions of people are watching.

BASEBALLSWAMI, "is" an Ace or "was" an Ace? You must have a very simplistic criteria for an Ace. His Manager said Gallardo was his Ace so his own manager and Ueck don't consider Greinke an Ace.IMO, I think the strikeouts fascination clouds the lines of determining the highest level of labeling a pitcher which is the CU YOUNG AWARD and calling someone an Ace. Yes, 3 seasons ago Greinke won the Cy, what have you done for me lately.Greinke is a very good pitcher, no longer an Ace.

Anon at 11:23 drops the Win/Loss record card and then FIP to prove a point. With almost 5 1/2 runs of support a game, what else would you expect against a 3.83 ERA? He has a 1 1/2 run differential each game to work with on average to get wins. Almost any pitcher with that type of differential will have a great W/L. Jordan Zimmermann had a 1 1/2 run deficit (negative) per game to work with between his ERA and Run Support. If you didn't learn anything last year from Felix Hernandez's great season that Ace's don't need winning records and W/L should be outside the box when determining Ace status when run support is less than ERA conversely don't get excited by by a large margin between ERA and Run Support resulting in a stealth W/L.Those who like to use FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) I believe favors to a high degree a low walk, high strikeout pitcher. So how do you dance around a 3.83 ERA and a 8.4 H/9? ERA neutralizes errors as they don't include them so unless you are telling me that Greinke's fielders don't make routine plays, then who cares. Yes, he plays in a hitters park and he has a HORRIFIC 4.70 road ERA.Ok, he is an ACE in his home park and a suck A$$ pitcher on the road.

I like Component ERA to judge a pitcher where it neutralizes as much as you can of bad luck and bad bullpens. Zach Greinke is the 34th best pitcher in ERC. Greinke is #58 in ERA. He is #9 in Defense Independent Pitching. He is #31 in WHIP. He was #1 in Run Support per actual IP and #11 in Run Support per game. He was #1 in K/9.So how do you evaluate a pitcher who has great swing and miss stuff but also gives up plenty of runs?#58th in ERA but #9 in DIP?His own Manager doesn't consider him an Ace and that says a lot to me. He was the Brewers #2 pitcher and his ERC says he is the 34th best pitcher and his WHIP is 31st. There are 30 teams and top 30 are generally Aces as some teams have none and some like the Phillies have 3. I don't think Greinke was an Ace in 2011 based on that however would be a fringe #1 on many teams to a #2 on most teams and considered the #2 on the Brewers.

By the way, every time I go through Sabre stats, one name keeps popping up and that is Brandon McCarthy of the A's. Nobody knows him and he had a huge breakout year. Solid numbers where he is a victim of playing on a bad team and past injuries.Keep his name in mind for possible trades. He is a 1 year deal as he is a Free Agent next year. Funny that Texas had DFA'd him so he was a freebie for Oakland last year.

It looks like the machine ate my comment. Only important thing I said was, thanks for the update, and I'm very glad we'll be getting them throughout the winter.We now return you to our regularly scheduled, and incessant, discussion of Zack Greinke.

Who said Harper is cocky. Who said he is a jerk? Is it cause he blew a kiss to the opposing pitcher after taking him deep? Is it cause he slammed his helmet after an ump called him out? I would think the only ones that could answer that question would be teammates. Guys who see him 24-7. Guys who ride with him on the bus. Guys who see him on his good days and bad days.

Scooter, the fascination with Zach Greinke and BJ Upton are like the big fish that got away. Every year there are those that want another chance and keep saying how BIG the fish was. It becomes the tall tale that keeps getting retold.I am suprised there is no Denard Span talk on here.After reading some of the comments out of Greinke's own mouth this week, not the type of guy I want on my team.

It was okay, but my quote of the year is still the following Pudge classic. :-)"(My arm) feels very good today. I made a very, very good throw. I'm not going to lie to you, that was a missile that I threw to second base."